Sarcastic wrote:Why is there still a Jagr thread here? He hasn't been a Penguin in a million years. I don't really care, just don't understand. I'd suggest the Bruins board.

Because it's in the Non-Pens related section?

No. I just don't get the interest in any of this.

well, if you don't get the interest in Jagr-related discussion, maybe the good first step would be not to click on any thread with “Jagr“ in the title...

Boo. You only like him because you're Chech and Lesky likes him because he has a girly crush. This would be like me making a thread and keeping it alive year after year on Gonchar or Hossa. At some point, I'd question my own sanity.

CHICAGO -- During the first intermission of Saturday night's Bruins-Blackhawks Game 2 telecast, NBC Sports hockey analyst and former Bruins player, coach, and general manager Mike Milbury took a shot at veteran Boston forward Jaromir Jagr.

“He can’t skate in this series, and they gotta get him off this line," Milbury said on the air. "If he can do something when he gets the puck standing still, fine. But he can’t forecheck, he can’t participate with this line, two very good players with him [on the highlight being shown]. He turned the puck over repeatedly. He can’t get anything going here. They can’t sustain anything with him on this line. He's not quick enough to get into the forecheck, and if his hands are going to act like that on him, he's got a problem. I think the Boston Bruins got to recognize this. Don't be looking at Jaromir Jagr the legend, this is Jaromir Jagr in real life… there's no hustle to get to the bench, absolutely lazy in a Stanley Cup Final… That to me is a guy that is too tired to play in this final. That's a guy that has to be replaced."

Before leaving Chicago to head back to Boston Sunday, Milbury didn't back off his criticism of Jagr and elaborated on the veteran sniper's game and why he doesn't think it fits with the Bruins current style of play.

"He doesn't hustle to get to the right place," Milbury said. "He's smart enough to know where to be, and he'll pick up the garbage. When the puck comes to him, then he's a dangerous player, like when the loose pucks pop his way, and they did [in Game 2]. He rattled one off the post in overtime."

Jagr actually led the Bruins attack with five shots Saturday night, but Milbury thinks that stat doesn't tell the whole story.

"The first two came off garbage turnovers and he ripped some shots off," he said. "So when he gets that, and what he loves to do is one-on-one stuff, he's still OK, as long as he gets the puck.

"You can't count on him on the forecheck, he's not going to participate as a group effort to go retrieve the puck, and so using him in selective areas I think, is important but Claude [Julien] just throws him out one after the other. God bless Claude, I love him, but I don't get it because he's got no goals, he's got no goals."

During the overtime period in Game 2, Jagr clanged a shot off the crossbar causing the 41-year-old hockey legend to scream to the high heavens.

“I said, ‘God. Where are you?’ ” Jagr said in the locker room when asked after the game what words he was howling.

The former two-time Cup champion and former NHL MVP has in fact not scored a goal in the postseason, last hitting the back of the net on April 21 against Florida. But Jagr showed a late burst of energy and seemed destined to turn on the red light Saturday night.

"That's the way it is," Jagr said after Game 2. "I've got no problem with that if we keep winning. That would be kind of sad if we would lose the hockey game, but there is always next time because we won. I don't worry about it right now."

Milbury appreciated Jagr's spirit when told of his comments after Game 2 when Jagr told the assembled media that he skates at the TD Garden rink alone after games sometimes so he can score some goals.

"Well that's funny, and he certainly works hard at it," Milbury said. "When you watch it and you try to be… and I've watched it for a long time, I've been critical of of him in the past but I've also been an admirer of him in the past because his skill set is just phenomenal but it's a different mindset that goes into his approach to the game.

"I sometimes get frustrated by that as a former coach watching it but the skill set is still there… you can see it from time to time, but these two teams are teams that forecheck. When they're going good, it's on the forecheck. He's not part of any forecheck blanket, he's part of the receiving team."

Former Bruins coach and current CBC broadcaster Don Cherry weighed in on Jagr as well on Sunday when he arrived in Boston, giving the right winger some props.

"Well he hasn't scored any goals but he has been effective," Cherry said. "[The Bruins] wanted Iginla and poor Jerome had an awful time and they ended up with [Jagr]. He hasn't had a goal, but I'll tell you, he's a big factor out there."

CHICAGO – We have had two Stanley Cup Finals games, both tightly-contested and decided in overtime.

The series between the evenly-matched Bruins and the Blackhawks is tied at 1-1 and is now heading to Boston and the TD Garden.

It's as competitive a Finals as anyone could ask for. But, after three overtimes in Game 1 and another overtime finish in Game 2, future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr wanted to make sure people use proper safety precautions watching the series going forward.

“I bet it's great and exciting for the fans who are watching hockey games,” Jagr said. “If you have a bad heart, you might not watch the game because you might get a heart attack. For young people, it's pretty exciting to watch. Old people, don't watch it! You might die just watching.”

If watching comebacks are deemed hazardous to one's health, Jagr may have a point. Both teams that have scored first in the Cup Finals games have eventually lost that contest. The Bruins are an amazing 5-2 this postseason when allowing their opponents to score first.

This year’s Stanley Cup Finals marks the first time teams have split the first two games of the Finals since the 2004 best-of-seven series between the Flames and Lightning. But it also represents the second straight Stanley Cup Final postseason that each of the first two games in the Finals have been decided in overtime.

“You go in there and you don't have to tell the players that the next goal wins,” said Claude Julien. “They know that. You go out there and play to win.

People predicted prior to the series that it would most likely go seven games, and that there would be a bevy of one-goal games. So far that’s exactly what's happened, leaving fans sleep-deprived and hearts pounding.

BOSTON - Jaromir Jagr cradled the puck on his stick and calmly surveyed the scrambly ice in front of him.

Two Chicago defenders were staring him down, while his teammates jostled for open space in tangential lines around him. An opening suddenly appeared and Jagr fired - through sticks, skates and bodies.

Patrice Bergeron seemed startled as the puck arrived on his stick with such ease, before slamming it behind Corey Crawford.

"It was right on my tape," Bergeron said. "Those little details go unnoticed, but not by us."

The power-play goal was vintage Jagr - controlling the puck in a keepaway game with deft touch and unmatched vision - something more likely to come out of Sega's NHL '94 instead of Game 3 of the 2013 Stanley Cup finals.

And it was exactly what the Bruins' struggling power play needed, powering Boston to a 2-0 victory in Game 3 in front of 17,565 galvanized die-hards at TD Garden. The gold-clad faithful chanted "We Want Cup!" from the time the puck dropped.

"I'm not that fast anymore, but I can still see," the 41-year-old Jagr said with a laugh. "And the hands are soft. They're still there. Give me some credit! I'm not that bad a player."

With the win, the Bruins gathered their first series lead of the best-of-seven finals. Game 4 is tomorrow night in Boston.

The Bruins are 11-2 in their last 13 playoff games - and both losses have come in overtime. Boston has won four straight Stanley Cup finals games in Beantown since 2011, when they outscored Vancouver by a 17-3 margin.

The Bruins held the Blackhawks to just 28 shots and only a handful of true scoring chances without top-line winger Marian Hossa, who was a surprise scratch after suffering an injury during warmups. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville called it a "low-chance game, a low-chance series."

Jagr's assist, his eighth of these playoffs, was also an important career milestone. He passed fellow former Flyer Paul Coffey for sole possession of fifth place in the NHL's all-time playoff scoring register with his 197th point in 199 career playoff games. Only Wayne Gretzky (382), Mark Messier (295), Jari Kurri (233) and Glenn Anderson (214) - all of the Edmonton dynasty of the 1980s - have posted more playoff points than Jagr.

Bergeron's tally provided the Bruins a rare two-goal edge. Boston and Chicago were either tied or separated by just one goal for 97.8 percent of the first two games (182 out of 186 minutes).

The Bruins are the only team to hold a two-goal lead in the series. They blew 2-0 and 3-1 cushions in Game 1 at the United Center, with the 'Hawks clawing back for the triple-overtime thriller. On this night, though, the Bruins outmuscled Chicago to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

"It's not easy to shut them down. They've got so many offensive weapons. Sooner or later they're going to get their chances," Jagr said. "Hopefully we can do it for two more games."